The Round Ball Does It Again

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Today I cast some .720 hoping to get pie plate accuracy at 25 yards out of a smooth bore. I didn't have good luck with .690 in a doughnut or .680 in a wad. I'm hoping full diameter will work. They powder coated really well and I chucked them into the snow right out of the oven. Casting in the winter has it's advantages.

[longbow]

Are you using a hard nitro card wad in the shotcup under the ball?

Plastic wads/shotcups tend to try to wrap themselves around the ball when they get kicked in the butt by 10,000 PSI. A little support under the ball goes a long way to improving accuracy.

A 0.680" ball in shotcup with proper wad support should be giving you 4" or so groups out to 50 yards. I use 16 ga. or 20 ga. nitro card wads in the 12 ga. trap wads.

If the 0.720" ball is naked accuracy isn't likely to be very good though maybe acceptable at 25 yards. Is the gun choked?

As long as the ball is well supported, centered in the bore and not spinning you should be able to get at least hunting level accuracy to 50 yards.

Yup! I often cool my moulds in the snow if I am casting fast and they start to overheat. Just set the bottom of the mould in the snow while a boolit/ball cools then cast another 5 or so then cool again.

Longbow

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I was trying to put the balls on top of something soft so they wouldn't deform coming out of the barrel. If I need a hard surface behind it I certainly can try that. The gun I'm using is a short 16" over under with no chokes. The problem may also be my powder choice. I'm using HS6 and I'm getting a lot of unburnt powder. Fold crimps would give me some failures with the ball barely making it out of the gun. A tight roll crimp works OK but still doesn't give me a complete burn. I was hoping the extra resistance of a full caliber would help up the pressure enough to burn. With the PC they won't roll freely in the barrel.

The smaller balls I was using a wad that was trimmed down to right where the ball goes full diameter. My plan was to remove the pedals completely with the .720s. I'll add the nitro card if you think it needs it.

[longbow]

You should start by using typical trap loads for 1 oz. or 1 1/8 oz. birdshot then replace shot with ball (0.678" is just over an ounce in pure lead and about an ounce in WW). Add at least one 1/8" nitro card wad under the ball and I like to add a small scoop of Cream 'O Wheat o lift the ball slightly so it fills in the gap under the ball. Then when that wad gets a boot in the butt at 10,000 PSI it can't wrap around the ball.

Randy Buchannan has good success using a felt wad under his 0.662" RB's in standard trap wads using a Green Dot trap load powder charge.

HS6 is fairly slow powder so best suited to heavy payloads and large powder charges. I mostly use Blue Dot for heavy slug loads but find that if the payload is light or I download too much I get incomplete burn and erratic accuracy. Best to use published recipes for the payload you are using. The 0.678" RB is about an ounce so use 1 oz. to 1 1/8 oz. slug load data or 1 oz. to 1 1/8 oz. birdshot load data to get best results.

Try to find wads after shooting. In my experience if the ball hasn't been supported well the bottom of the shotcup will be distorted and often the gas seal will have failed as well. Something else to look for is damaged petals. Depending on shotcup the ball may have to be spaced up some on nitro card wads or similar to get to decent crimp height or you'll have to cut the petals some. A 7/8 oz. shotcup might be okay with just a nitro card wad and a scoop of COW to get the ball set right but a 1 1/8 oz. wad will be too deep so needs some help.

I tried 0.735" RB's on cushion legs with petals cut off and no support under the balls. Total failure! The wads tried to wrap around the balls and cracked the bottom of the shotcup and gas seals distorted and failed. I had good results with those RB's on a hard card wad column with plastic gas seal over the powder. Smaller RB's like 0.662" and 0.678" do well in a shotcup with the nitro card wad and COW.

Wad type will have an effect too. I have limited selection available so have to order in and usually use Winchester wads because they were available. It seems Federal wads are tougher... at least according to what I read. I had some old Pacific Verelite blue wads that were thicker and "better" cushion and gas seal then the Winchester wads that did very well with my round ball and slug loads.

Take a look at SuperBlazingSabots thread (its a sticky) on ball/slug/wad fit. Lots of good info there! And great pics!

Longbow

[missionary5155]

Projectile fit is the #1 bug-a boo in all shooting with cast. Snug has beat alot of bugs.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Great post and sure enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject.
Keep it up.
For 12 gauge .690" RB shooters

but that Win Yellow 12F114 wad is not in the picture, the measurements are at the bottom
of the picture .731" to .733" always cast them with WW
* * Need a good solid firm base is very important to keep the wad base from wrapping around the RB.
* * The ones whose barrel is Over bored will love the Fed 12S-0 wad third from left and 4th from left in Red Versalite wad !

Here is a neat trick, every time you add yet another .125" or .135" nitro card in wad below your RB / Slug your OD dimensions decrease a bit !
Always buy your RB mold made by Lee Precision for $21 at MidSouth, don't pay $ 30, 40 or 50
Removing those ugly no good spruce sure is a pain and disaster for our accuracy!


I would suggest using two nitro cards below the RB and Lee Drive Key slug in wad and then fold crimp

Just look at this beautiful picture, its telling us something.
All that matters is the " Fit " and the nitro cards doing wonders by help supporting our substandard wads ! !



God is great, May his Grace and Glory be with you.

Best regards,
Ajay K. Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[GBertolet]

2022 update: I just took this 7 point buck with the RB, at about 100 yards. Still have quite a few rounds left with the teflon tape. Didn't get to the powder coated balls yet. 40 grains of Blue Dot powers this load.

[Charlie Horse]

I've got that same Traffic Purple powder. It works really well. I asked Smoke to send me what works best and that was it.